TheNew York Times film critic Lena Wilson raised several eyebrows last week with her review of the new horror film Bodies, Bodies, Bodies—including those of its star, Amandla Stenberg, whose cleavage was specifically called out in Wilson's criticism.
When Stenberg hit back, shading Wilson in a DM about using her body to swipe at the film, a new controversy erupted in which Wilson accused Stenberg of homophobia for clapping back at her.
Both women are lesbians, and Stenberg is nonbinary and uses she/they pronouns.
In response to Wilson's accusations, Stenberg took to Instagram to defend her actions, as seen below, and fans are applauding her for clapping back at they see as a racist attack from Wilson.
\u201cAmandla Stenberg defends messaging \u2018Bodies Bodies Bodies\u2019 critic Lena Wilson:\n\n\u201cI do get tired of people talking about my chest ... you are allowed to have your criticism on my work and I\u2019m allowed to have my criticisms of your work. I wish you the best.\u201d\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1660849998
In her video, Sternberg told Wilson:
“Lena, I thought your review was hilarious. I thought my DM was funny. I did not mean to harass you. I do not wish you any harm."
"You are allowed to have your criticism on my work and I’m allowed to have my criticisms of your work. I wish you the best.”
The controversy began when Wilson sniped that the film, which centers on a group of wealthy Gen Z friends being stalked by a killer, "doubles as a 95-minute advertisement for cleavage"--a reference to Stenberg's busty appearance.
In response, Stenberg DM'd Wilson on Twitter, shading her review's focus on Stenberg's chest. She wrote:
“Your review was great. Maybe if you had gotten your eyes off my tits you would’ve watched the movie!”
Stenberg said in her Instagram follow up that she meant the comment as a joke, but it was absolutely not received that way. Wilson posted screenshots of Stenberg's commentary to Twitter accusing the actor of homophobia.
\u201cNew York Times film critic Lena Wilson shares Instagram DM from Amandla Stenberg following Wilson\u2019s review of #BodiesBodiesBodies: \n\n\u201cmaybe if you had gotten ur eyes off my tits you could\u2019ve watched the movie!\u201d\u201d— Pop Crave (@Pop Crave) 1660830786
In her tweets, Wilson, who has since gone private on Twitter, wrote:
“Do you think she Instagram DM’d [film critics] Alison Wilmore, Justin Chang, and Anthony Lane like this or…"
"always weird when the homophobia is coming from inside the house, but this is something.”
Wilson also posted a TikTok in which she claimed Stenberg was using her celebrity as a cudgel to attack her.
“I am devastated to have received this message..."
"I was a genuine huge fan of hers, but I’m posting this because I don’t want this person who has more social power than me to think that it’s fu*king OK to do something like this."
But Stenberg dismissed this, saying she intended her message as a good-natured snipe between two gay people in on the joke.
“I thought it was hilarious. I thought because Lena is gay, and I am also gay…as gay people we would both find this comment funny.
She also explained that commentary on her breasts like Wilson's is an extremely common occurrence, and once she finds tiresome.
“It’s quite surprising the amount of commentary I receive on my boobs... I do get tired of people talking about my chest. There seems to be a lot of unwarranted conversation about my chest.”
On Twitter, many found Wilson's response to Stenberg both overwrought and racist for the way it played into stereotypes of Black women as overly aggressive, and most were firmly on Stenberg's side.
\u201c1. You literally called Amandla Stenberg \u201cmentally unwell\u201d but I guess you didn\u2019t explain that because that would ruin the narrative. \n\n2. A private DM is not wielding social power. \n\n3. If you wanted nothing to come of this than maybe you shouldn\u2019t had posted it.\u201d— Jerome! (@Jerome!) 1661046083
\u201cI think the funniest part of the Amandla Stenberg drama today is the people in Lena Wilson's replies acting like she got hit by a bus\u201d— C.J. Prince (@C.J. Prince) 1660847676
\u201cClaiming to be a huge fan of Amandla Stenberg is a self-drag I\u2019m sorry\u2026 like just say you were shook by her seeking you out in retaliation and keep it pushing. But also it was a DM, she didn\u2019t roast you openly lmfao\u201d— henny\ud83d\udc7d\ud83d\udc96\u26a0\ufe0f (@henny\ud83d\udc7d\ud83d\udc96\u26a0\ufe0f) 1660936668
\u201cI\u2019m going to make this clear. @lenalwilson was absolutely in the wrong to objectify Amandla Stenberg and reduce her work to her breasts, then double down and post her DM and say that Amandla was being homophobic. It reeks of anti-Blackness and misogynoir.\u201d— Nate Skate (@Nate Skate) 1660934530
\u201cAmandla Stenberg is a gay non-binary person. And somehow they\u2019re homophobic by telling Lena in private to stop hyper sexualizing their body?\n\nBut the black queer person is the one one with the \u201csocial power\u201d? The layers of this is\u2026racism\u2026.erasure\u2026the tone deaf\u2026.the tropes.\u201d— BLACKLIVESMATTER (@BLACKLIVESMATTER) 1660950085
\u201cnot amandla stenberg having to clarify that it actually sucks to constantly be sexualized for your boobs just because they exist. maybe if your first thought when you see cleavage is sexual, the problem isn\u2019t the cleavage but you????\u201d— YandO (@YandO) 1660855784
\u201cThe more I read of Lena Wilson's earlier writing, the more I'm convinced that part of the unspoken subtext is that Lena has a problem with Amandla Stenberg for being nonbinary and using both she/they pronouns. Accusing a gay nonbinary person of homophobia is all kinds of terfy.\u201d— Kathryn Brightbill (@Kathryn Brightbill) 1660935727
\u201cWhat I don't understand is liking women, having someone as attractive as Amandla Stenberg in your DMs joking about your interest her breasts, and not immediately trying to parlay that into a date. At the very least an ongoing flirtation!\u201d— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@Cheryl Lynn Eaton) 1661046846
\u201cI\u2019m glad Amandla Stenberg, Yara Shahidi & Zendaya never gave into Twitter culture & continue to figure out their lives/career their way because man this app used to give them the blues just for existing tbh\n\nAnd they were young as hell being held to standards others can\u2019t fulfill\u201d— Who is you, Chiron? (@Who is you, Chiron?) 1660607118
\u201cThinking bout how critic Lena Wilson (@lenalwilson, who went private because she can\u2019t take the L) posted private messages of Amandla Stenberg making very very valid, if sassy, comments about her review and then tried to drag them publicly and a Black, Gay actor HOMOPHOBIC?\u201d— Chicago\u2019s Most (Insert Word Here) Stoole (@Chicago\u2019s Most (Insert Word Here) Stoole) 1660899610
Wilson has since gone private on social media and has yet to further comment on the backlash.